Day Schedule

➤ Arrive Vladivostok

➤ Meet and greet at the train station

➤ Transfer to the hotel and guaranteed early check-in

➤ Guided city tour: harbor, Submarine S-56, Golden Bridge, view point Eagle’s Nest, Vokzalnaya Square, the monument of the Trans-Siberian Railway, China town

➤ Group tour: Farewell dinner

Vladivostok Tour

Welcome to the capital of Primorye! Vladivostok is one of the most picturesque and interesting cities in the Russian Far East. During the Soviet time, the city was the home base of the Pacific Russian military fleet and thus entrance for international travellers was not allowed. Free access was given to tourists and visitors in 1992 after the fall of USSR. Today we shall visit all the highlights of this Pacific city. If you travel in one the set groups, see your fellow travelers in the evening for a farewell dinner to celebrate the success of your epic Trans-Siberian train journey.

The city was founded by the Russian military, the first merchants here were the Chinese, and chic department stores were built by the Germans. You will learn how the first civilian resident of Vladivostok became an oligarch and what unites the Tokarevsky lighthouse and the cruiser "Aurora", the Revolution Firestarter in St Petersburg. Which station in Moscow is considered a twin of the Vladivostok railway station, why the local China Town was called "Millionka" and how many legends fell into its entertaining history. I will also tell how the crew of the submarine could S-56 last at a depth of 6 hours without ventilation and why Tsarevich Nikolai could not get ashore on the day of arrival..

Quoting Eleanor Pray, the wife of an American entrepreneur who lived in Vladivostok for 36 years and left her descendants a detailed description of Vladivostok of her era: what would be worse and worse than war for Vladivostok? The disappearance overnight of all Chinese: water carriers, breakers, merchants, sellers of snowdrops and lanes, gardeners and fishermen. Late XIX-early XX centuries was a time of massive Chinese presence here at the Russian Far East and "manza" (Chinese settled in the South Ussuri Territory) which later disappeared played an important role in this remote corner of the Russian Empire.

Vladivostok is a mysterious entity saturated with sea salt and wind. We will visit major landmarks such as Harbor, Submarine S-56, Golden Bridge, view point Eagle’s Nest, Vokzalnaya Square, the monument of the Trans-Siberian Railway, Vladivostok fortress museum. It is a Russian city, but is it Asian or European? Is it the center of a new world, or is it an ambitious world’s end? It's time to discover the Far East Capital of Russia.

How was Vladivostok found and established, who stood at its origins? You will see the foundation of the city - a monument to the discoverers, you will pass to the Arc de Triumph of Tsarevich Nikolai and walk along the Golden Mile - this area is full of apartment buildings belonging to foreigners of all stripes. As a sea port, Vladivostok has always attracted international traders. Germans, French, Americans, Chinese, Japanese, Koreans left a mark on the history and culture of Vladivostok.

Alternatively, you may sign up for special Japanese Vladivostok Tour (on a private basis, not included). Vladivostok has been influenced by Japan for centuries. You will see the Japanese quarter that has survived to this day and find out when the first representatives of the diaspora appeared in the city, where they settled and what they were doing. We will learn how soy sauce, lacquer caskets, umbrellas, kimonos, fans were supplied to Vladivostok and which of the Japanese influenced the local culture. You will see the sights of Vladivostok, somehow connected with the Land of the Rising Sun: the Consulate General of Japan, a building with griffins, a Buddhist prayer house, the house of industrialist Horio Naozo and a literary stone with poems by Yesano Akiko. We will pass a Japanese school in the "Siberian style" and find out where the street with noodles serving the famous ramen soup was located.